Unit partition wall construction



E. M. JENKINS ETAL UNIT PARTITION WALL. CONSTRUCTION Nov. 24, 1953 Filed Sept. 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORN-EY Nov. 24, 1953 E. M. JENKINS ET AL 2,660,270

UNIT PARTITION WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS 214 420 M Je/vK/N: fi o/m4: A. ,4CKE/V.

A TORNEY Nov. 24, 1953 E. M. JENKINS ETAL 2,

UNIT PARTITION WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY Nov. 24, 1953 N E. M. JENKINS ET AL I 2,660, 70

UNIT PARTITION WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 V A ORNEY mately 7' of floor space.

Patented Nov. 24, 1953 UNIT "PARTITION WALL CONSTRUCTION Edward M. Jenkins, "Somerville, 'an'cl Thomas L. Acken, Jr., New Brunswick, N. J., assignors to Johns-Manville Gorporation, New York, N. Y., acorporationof New York v Application september 10, 1946; Serial No.695,'866

'1 Claim. (CL 189--34) Iihe instant invention relates "to wall for jp'artition -assein'blies and particularly to units which may be prefabricated 'fo'rthe erection of laboratory walls and the like. In modern laboratory construction the trend is to multiple eell-type, space divisions with provision for rearrangement o 'the spaee a'sf need may arise.- In order to attain full advantage of "thjis'type of construction, 'corripletefiexibility isrequire'd, both'w'i-th respect to the I partitions and to the-associated plumbing .anaiserviee lines, The terms plumbing and service lines "are used in accordance with C011.

ventioha'l practica'the term "plumbing applying to all of the piping required"and the term" s"ervice lines referring particularly tothe incoming line's, namely the water, air, vacuum and -gasiline's, etc. 21 principal objecto'itlna instant invention isthe provision of a system of laboratory wall eons'tr'uction in which both the wall and the plumbingare on aunit basi's',' providing complete flexibility and permitting rearrangement of "the partitions and plumbing to meet particular requirements.

" Another object of theinve'ntion isthe provision of .a wall =or1partition construction incorporating the plumbingfwithin the ii'ite'lidr f the Wall, "all plumbing-as well as the partition-"itself being con 'structedon asimilar unit basis to allow for rapid erection and rearrangement. :Also the instant construction is one'which provides ready accessibilityto the service lines, eventhough they are "completely concealed within 'the wall, whereby they may 'be originally installedwi th a minimum .of labor andlater removed, replaced "or 'altered' without reconstruction of, or injury to, the wan.

The placing of the piping within the wall greatly improves the appearance 'andu'tility of the wan and has "the further advantage of increasing the working space within the laboratory. In "conventional practice the piping is hung'on the exterior of the'wal'l, the piping requiring-approxi- By incorporating the pipingwithin the wall, additional working space ofthis'widthis obtained. In modern laboratory constructions of the 'type referred to above having multiple cell-"type, spa'cedivi'sions, this sav-' ing, when multiplied by the number of labora tories involved, becomes 'of're'al importance.

. vA further :object of the invention is the provision of 'a supporting structure for the piping within the Wall space. A still lfurther object is the provision of a stiid'hav'ing a section provided with notches or seats of a character tosupport piping, the seats opening intoia face or the stud. lnone embodiment of the invention-the once 2 stud core while in-another embodiment a separate hanger including the notches "or seats is incorporated in the stud "construction,

still further object of the invention is the provision of a panel arrangement whereby readily removable access panels are employed as a wall facing overlying these'rvice line's.

l."he invention will be more fully understood and further objects andadvarita'geswill become apparent "when' referen' cei's made to the following more detailed description 'of "aprefer i'ed embodiment and to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l 'is an el'evati'onal View, with portions broken away for clearness of illustration,"of a wall or partition construction in accordance with the wall construction;

Fig. 6 is a sectional View, on anenlarged scale, taken on the lined-4 of Fig. 1; v

Fig. "7 is asec'tional view, on an enlarged scale,

taken on the "line 7-1 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is a View similar toFig. 5 showing a modi- Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the studding of Fig-8; and. I v r Y Fig. 10 is a front elevational view dingofFig. 8. 1 v v H Beferringnow to the drawings, there is'shown "a. wall structure adapted for the sub-division of of the stude an "enclosed building "space into a plurality of smaller rooms. Theinvention finds a particular fieldof use in theconstruction of laboratories and similar work spaces which may require rearrangemen-t from time to time and which additionally requirenumerousservice lines such as water, gas"; air,- va'cuum lines and the like,-and waste'lines for sinkand benchdrains and, accordingly,the par tition will be referredtoherein specifically as a laboratory partition. 'However, it will be appreci'ated that it within thescope of the invention to employ it in the construction of rooms for other purposes where similar problems are involved. l a

The wall is of unit construction, i.e,, it isinade of sections o'i-unit size, the unit construction mcludingthe arrangement of the plumbing with- "scale;

in the wall whereby both the wall units and the plumbing units may be prefabricated and employed in the erection of a partition wall in accordance with any selected plan, the unit construction permitting the later alteration and rearrangement of the partition as may be required' s i 3 I The unit construction involves the use of a plurality of studs 16 spaced at suitable intervals, preferably 2 intervals, for the length of the wall. The wall surfaces are composed of a plu rality of panels of substantially the width of the center to center spacing of thestuds e. -J Of a 2 width for 2' stud spacing. The facing panels,

indicated generally at [4, are removably secured in place and are divided into vertically adjacent panel sections, as will be hereinafter .rnore fully pointed out. The panels are made of any suitable paneling material but are preferably composed of a hardened,compressed, asbestos- .cement materialsuch as fTransite, this material being particularly advantageous for laboratory partitions due to its resistance to corrosion, its easy ,cleanability, attractive appearance, fire- Ibroofness; and the like. i p

accordance with the instant invention the plumbing lines are all concealedwithin the interior, of the walland are constructed in units correlated to the wall units whereby the'partition may belengthened, shortened or otherwise modified, or theplumbing itself may be modified without-,difiiculty. In the instant case the plumbing lines are shown as made in it sections equivalentllo thewidth of two stud spaces, as previously pointed out.

Reference will first be made to the service lines indicated collectively by the reference character l6. Risers 18 leading from mains beneath the floor project into a selected stud space. The lines are connected to the risers through unions 2%), Us 2|, fittings 22 and connecting niples., The lines are made up of. a plurality of units, unit A extending from fittings 22 to the second stud spacebeyond wherethey connect into ,fittings 24,. Those lines requiring outlets, an outlet for each of the lines being illustrated, use T fittings whichareconnected to taps, such as those shown at 28 in Fig. 6, by conventional fittings 26 including nipples extending through openings formed in the wallv panel. If outlets from any of .the,,l-ines are not desired, the corresponding fitting 24 may be a coupling or may be a T with the stem plugged. The pipes of a second unit B extend from fittings 24 to the second stud space to; the left where they connect into fittings 30. In the construction illustrated, only two of th li are. app d a th point. For the tapped lines fittingsv 3i! are Tsconnected to, the outletsor faucets 34 through fittings 32. The f ttings 30 for the remainder of the lines are couplings or are Ts with the stemsplugged as p eviousl explained V As many additional units may be employed as are, required 'to extend the lines the length of, or tliedesired distance alon thepartition wall. orallofthe linesmay be tapped atthe i unctions of the sections in the manner described above for units A and B.

'lhe lines may also project in the opposite direction from the, risers as illustrated by unit Q3 The Pipe sections making up this unit are connected into fittings 22 and extend to fittings iifi which, as in the case illustrated where the s are shown ending at this point, may be Ls connected to suitable fittings 38 leading to taps 4 or outlets. As will be appreciated, other fittings may be employed and the line may be further extended if the length of the wall permits. The specific manner in which the units are supported in the wall will be later described.

The waste lines for the several sinks, bench drains, etc. are similarly of unitlength. e. g. of *4 length as illustrated in the drawings. Separate waste lines 44 and 46 may be employed, the .Waste lines extending in opposite directions from the stud spaces adjacent risers l8 to avoid interference with the risers. Referring first to the con$ 2ruction to the left of the risers as shown in "Fig.1, a waste line unit 43 is connected into an L fitting 50 by coupling 52, the L fitting being in communication with a main sewer (not shown) beneaththe floor. The fitting preferably has a branch 5:, which, in this instance, is capped or otherwise closed off. Unit 48 has a branch 53 coupled at 54 to a drain pipe 56 leading from bench drain 51. A second unit 58 coupled to unit 48 at 60 has a branch 61 coupled at 62 to a drain line 64 from a sink 65. Additional units maybe employed to extend the drain line for the full length of or any desired distance along the partition, each of the units carrying a branch or T. These are utilized if a drain is required or are otherwise closed off similarly as in the case of branch 5! of fitting 50. Waste line 46 extending to the right of the risers includes unit 6.6 connected into Lv fitting 68 through coupling 10., Unit 66has a branch H coupled at 12 to drain line 74 leading from a bench drain 18. A bench. drain Tl may drain into L fitting 68 through branch 18. All of the units as represented by units 48, 58 and 66 are preferably identical and similarly fittings 50 and 68 are preferably identical in form.

From the above description it will be understood that, as the service lines are made up of connected, similar or identical units, and the drain lines are also made up of connected, similar or identical units, and the partition is likewise of unit construction, two stud spaces being considered a unit, and is of a character to make the lines accessible, the partition may be extendedfrom time to time, or the position of sinks, drains and other equipmentalong the wall may be changed to meet changing conditions with only minor alterations of the plumbing. For example, sinks may be disconnected from the waste lines and the connections closed. Likewise, closed connections can be opened and connectedsin with sinks or drains at any time. The tap lines from the service lines may be removed and the fittingsplugged, or previously plugged fittings may be connected to taps. Any of the lines may be lengthened or shortened by adding or subtracting units. The construction is entirely flexible. Furthermore, due to the location of all piping within the wall, the entire space up to the wall may be utilized for cabinet or working space (seeFigs. 3 and 4). The nipples leading from the service lines to the taps project through the wallirather than through the table as in the conventional case, thusagain making more table top space available.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 3 to '7 inclusive, special features of the wall construction which permit the "accommodation of the service lines and waste lines within the wall will be described. The studs l0 which support 'facing panels M in the preferred construction include a central core or web (see"Figs.'5 to 7) of relatively heavy metal, 'sayg'a steel bar i g'" to lines. and risers I 8.

in thickness. w The web 89 has a flat transverse red to plate are flanged'angle members '82 inade of relatively lightg-augemetal, say, :20 gauge ste l. Members tiinlude face flanges 84 havingforward faces 85 lying substantially in the same plane as the forward edge surface BI of the web '89, integral attachment flanges 85 and integral, retrover'ted', reinforcing flanges cc. The members are secured to the core plate '80, preferably by welding thezattachmentfla'n'ges -8B'to'the core plate. Face "flanges 84 are provided with means, as indtcated at '90, for cooperation with fastening devices carried by surfacing panel's I I. The fastening devices may beof any suitable type but preferably for this purpose, fasteners as shown and described in "patent to Kellogg, 2,033,100, issued March 3, 1936 are used, as these permit the facing panels to be readily. mounted and dismounted from the stud, but hold them firmly 'and prevent theirirattlin'g.

Studs 'Iil are provided with integral means supportingservice lines It. 'The supporting means in the embodiment shown inFigs'ii, 6 and F1 takes the form of recessed seats or notches as opening into a face of the stud. Angle members 821 "terminate adjacent the notches or seatsi'dt to .leave an uninterrupted opening for lateral in sertion of the piping into the seats. seats'ez are preferably downwardly slanted at a small angle to insureTetentioI-i-Qt 'thie pipes within the seats, and'--are made of a widthapproximately equal to the outer diameter of the pipe to snugly receive the' -pipe'sf The seats of the severalpipes are closely spaced so that therservice lines will be grouped-at a single location vertically of the wall. Theseveral service lines extending to tha trofmT-isers'" I}? are connected ,intoffittin s 2-1 nd aiciigruie 'wal'lin' unit lengths, as p I y'described," the'lins' resting within is v the Tst'd nspievicusiymenncned, th units are cbnne ed'by'fitt'i'n'gs, such as-fittings 30; Fig. T6 "illustratesthe'manner in which tap lihe's'are ta cnnorntne fittings, the -tap lines prererabiy I extending" thrcugh whereby one series 0f. hn' 's iserves laboratorles' opposite'side's dftlie partition.

The positioning of units C extending to the right of the risers I8 is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 7. The studs in this section of the wall are reversed to place the notches or seats on the opposite face. Unit C of the pipe it are mounted in the notches and are connected into the fittings 22 through'nipples 98 which cross the stud space. Theshifting of units C to the opposite side of both faces 'oi 'the the stud space avoids interference between the Referring now to Figs.

"such as bolts ate, with a second flange I I 6 extending laterally thereof.

The first flange 898 of the angle plate, parallel to the web sec, has a forward edge IE1; which should not lie forward 'of the forward edge surface Hi3 of the web and preferably, may be substantially flush therewith. A first plurality of notches or seats IIB oi the I 7 8-10 inclusive, a somewhat modified construction of the'stud is dis- .closed. In this embodiment the stud core or web II!!! is provided'with a single elongated recess or studding shown'in-Fi'gs. 5, 6 and 7, extend through the forward edge III-I and downwardly and inwardly into the flange I63, the notches having inner terminals I09 and receiving the piping I6 as before. Inthi'storm or the stud means are preferably provided to positively retain the pipes within'the seatsfincr tnisurpcse a retainer strip "H2 is placed to overlie the piping i and is drawn against it to hold "it firmly in position within th'eiseats by b ol ts' -or studs H4 passing through'perfora tions in the strip and perforations in the second ifia'nge I it of the angle plate I M.

Referring now to Figs and 4, the manner in which the waste lines are accommodated within the wall is illustrated. Qpenings t It are made in the-cor'es of the studs,- the openings extending into the flanges 36 of angle members 82 to the extent necessary to "provide an opening of such site as'to accommodate the"selec'ated diameter of waste lines and to provide the required drainage The waste lines ct and at. as the'case maybe, are I ei'ztende'd through these openings, Inasmuch a's, particularly chemical laboratories, lead lines are require'dto prevent corrosion by chemicals depc's'i'tedin the sinks, saddle supports are provided "for the-lines, a's'indicated in Figs. 3 and 4, the saddle supportssuitably comprising angle members lzfl 'i-esting on members I =I22Iriveted or bolted 'to the 'studsacress the open mg I I3 at Variable 'hl'ghts a 'to center spacing of the studs, the panel's'being I readily removable as'previously pointed out. *The panel structure for each stud space is made up of a plurality ot vertical adjacent panel's including preferably an upper panel 126, a lowerpanel "I26, a relatively narrow intermediate panel lZB' extending a. short distance below thetop of the laboratory bench as shown in Fig. l, and specially mounted access panel 13d. The narrow intermediate panel accommodate theinipples for the outlets or taps landthe accesspanels ltil make the service line connections readily accessible;

The panels, with the exception of the access" panels I30 are secured to the studs by detachable fasteners preferably of the type described in the Kellogg Patent #2,033,100, as referred to above. The access panels are secured in any.

suitable way that will permit their easy removal.

For example, the attachment means illustrated in Fig. 6 comprises straps I32 secured to theback of theaccess panel and received behind the intermediate panel I28 and catches I34 including cooperating members I 36 and I38 carried by the line units which similarly may be taken from a stock of preformed pieces are slipped into position within openings I I8, and coupled together, the length of the openings permitting the units to be worked into place. These'are then connected with the elbow fittings leading to the sewer and with those elements of the drain fittings located interior-ly of the wall. Panels I24, 126 and, I28 are assembled on the studs. The various connections may then be made with the taps and with the sink drains.

If for any reason one or more of the service lines must be replaced or changed, or additional lead-offs are required, the access .panel may be readily removed and the service lines reached. If the change effects the number of lines extending through the intermediate panel this may be slipped upwardly to disconnect the fasteners of the type shown in the Kellogg Patent #2,033,100 and then removed and-a panel of the proper construction substituted. Similarly, drains may be repaired or changed, or additional connections made to the drains by removing the wall panels. -No injury to the wallis caused by these alterations, notwithstanding the fact that the lines are all concealed in the interior of the wall. The wall may be lengthened or shortened by adding or removing one or more units made up of the wall panels and studs. The wall is thus susceptible to modification and-change to meet changin conditions. Furthermore, it is built from standard parts, preconstructed by factory operations if desired, the erection of the wall being limited to an assembly operation.

Having thus described our invention in rather full detail, it will be understood that these details need not be strictly adhered to and that various changes and modifications may suggest themselves to oneskilled in the art, all falling within the'scope-of the invention as defined by the subjoined claim.

What we claim is:

A wall assembly comprising a plurality-of wall panels, accesspanels,- andspaced stud assemblies, each of said stud assemblies comprising an elongated vertically extending web having side faces and -a forward edge surface extending transversely thereof and a notch extending inwardly of the web through said forward edge surface, flanged members extending vertically along and secured to said web and terminating adjacent the notch, each of said flanged members having one flange adjacent a side face of the web and a second flange having a forward face lying substantially in the plane of said forward edge surface of the web and having means .removably securing at least one of said wall .panels there to, an angle plate having a first flange attached to a side face of the web and extending vertically therealong and parallel thereto, said first fiange of said angle plate spanning said'notch and having a forward edge and notches extending through said forward edge and downwardly and inwardly therefrom, the forward edge surface of said web lying at least as far forward as the forward edge of said first flange of said angle plate, said angle plate having a second flange extending laterally of its said first flange rearwardly of the inner terminals of its said notches, a strip, and means removably supporting said strip from saidsecond flange of said angle plate in spaced relationship therefrom and substan tially parallel thereto along said first flange of said angle :plate and transversely of the notches therein and in forwardly spaced relation to the inner terminals of said angle plate notches and rearwardly of said forward edge surface of the web, and means removably securing said access panels opposite said angle plate notches, whereby piping may be supported by said angle plate in said angle plate notches and retained therein by saidstrip.

EDWARD M. JENKINS. THOMAS L. ACKEN,-JR.

References Cited the file of this .patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 853,092 Knoth May 7,1907 1,316,255 Rauch Sept. '16, 1919 1,648,971 Swedenborg Nov. 15, 1927 1,718,252 Putnam June'25, 1929 1,908,067 Sharp et a1 May '9, 1933 2,033,100 Kellogg Mar. 3, 1936 2,127,492 Aggers Aug. 23, 1938 2,243,373 Crites May 27,1941 2,277,217 Faber Mar. '24, 1942 2,354,919 Lockwood Aug. 1, 1944 

